


What Comes After

by Jomacblack



Series: Monsters in Your Closet [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:28:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28986381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jomacblack/pseuds/Jomacblack
Summary: A few months after Spencer's kidnapping by the Winchesters, the team stumbles upon a case they can't work out.The BAU tries to find a logical explanation for the sudden murders, while Reid struggles with his conflicted feelings about the brothers.
Series: Monsters in Your Closet [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087766
Comments: 91
Kudos: 269





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, it's been a while!
> 
> This isn't finished yet, so I'm nervous about posting it (I like to have the whole thing written out before I post), but maybe it'll motivate me to do more work. 
> 
> I didn’t go into too much detail on the routine of case working, as I was more focused on the feelings of the characters and such, so I realize it might feel vague at times.
> 
> Overall, I feel like I could do a lot better here, but I never really planned for a second part. It’s just your responses that were so nice I couldn’t leave you hanging! So to everyone who commented - this was created because of you.
> 
> Planning a whole lot of other CM/SPN fics, just have to get this one out of the way bc I can't seem to start writing another one while this one sits unfinished. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy! xx

"Christopher Walton, a 41-year-old male, violently murdered his family last night. After enduring hours of torture, his victims died from blood loss. Right now we’re at the house where the murder took place. This is yet another act of extreme domestic violence. Just four days ago we were faced with an oddly similar incident when a woman killed her family of two and then committed suicide. There are no more details being released at the moment but we'll be informing…"

The screen went black with a press of a button. Garcia turned back to her teammates and started the briefing.

Their tired faces looked at her, trying to focus. For the last few months they’ve been tossed from one case to another, yet to each one finished, five new ones seemed to pop up out of thin air. 

“…you’re headed to Springfield, Illinois. The Police Chief there said his officers didn’t touch the scene, except for arresting the husband. Media is being kept away as much as possible…”

“He’s alive?” Rossi interrupted, he thought the father has committed suicide like the woman from the previous murder did. 

"Yes. He's in arrest right now, claiming he didn't do it. He was caught cutting himself with a kitchen knife when the officers arrived. He tried running at first, but it seems he stopped in an alley by the house. Officers said he was kneeling on the ground, looking like he was in shock,” Garcia continued.

Rossi frowned in confusion, why would a killer stop running when he had an advantage? 

“We’ll interrogate him when we get there,” Emily spoke up, “the chief said there is something he wants us to see ourselves. He didn’t say what exactly, so be ready for anything. We’ll read up on the details on the plane. Wheels up in ten.”

  
  


**…..**

  
  


After short introductions, Albert Staton, the police chief, led the team to where the murder took place. All media outlets were already crowding outside, scavenging for any information. 

Exhausted and irritated, the agents pushed their way through. 

Prentiss knew the attention, and the chaos that came with it, would only get bigger. But she decided to just focus on the murder itself for now. Guided by the chief, she entered the house with her team. 

The scene was a mess. It often was, but this time was different, it  _ felt _ different. Emily couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was off. 

And it wasn’t the fact that the whole scene looked like a shot from a cheap horror movie. The smears of blood that greeted them at the entrance gave this place an eerie feeling, sure. 

But there was something more. And as she got closer to the bodies that have been tied to chairs by the dinner table, she saw exactly what it was.

“I wanted you to see for yourselves, this-it’s just not right.” The police chief shook his head looking at the used-to-be family.

A symbol was carved on the children’s foreheads, crude lines cut into their young faces. Even through the blood covering the design, it was unmistakable.

A five pointed star in a circle. Turned upside down, it could only mean one thing. 

“Did this occur at the other site too?” She heard Luke ask somewhere behind her as she traced the cuts with her eyes. 

“Yes, but nothing like this. I called it in then, but they said you guys were busy.”

“We were,” Emily confirmed, sighing. They were busy all the time these past few months.

"Do you think it's some kind of a…I don't know, satanic cult?” 

She turned to the man, of course that was the first thing he thought. Most people would. 

“Highly unlikely,” Reid spoke up, “there has never been a proven case of a satanic ritual killing in the United States. In most instances it’s just…kids playing jokes.” He didn’t turn his gaze away from the symbols as he spoke, observing them closely.

Worry hit her as she realized.  _ Damn it.  _

With all the stuff going on, she didn’t think about how Reid would react to something like this. What if he-

“This look like a joke to you?” The sheriff snapped back, making Emily turn her attention to him. Reid turned away from the scene and looked at him too. 

“We all know it’s not a joke. We’ll investigate and keep you updated on what we come up with.” Luke stepped in to answer for his friend, for which Reid was probably grateful.

The chief sighed, stepping down. Prentiss couldn’t help analysing the man. As she observed him, she got the feeling things like these don’t happen around here too often. 

The man himself looked rather hefty, probably spent more time behind a desk these days than he did in the field.

“Take a look at this,” Rossi spoke up, directing everyone’s attention to where he was standing, by the wife’s body. “It looks like the spouse has the least amount of wounds.” 

“Yeah, the kids seem to get the worst of it,” Emily concluded. 

While the wife had a few cuts and bruises, the children had straight up symbols carved into their skin.

“We need to keep this out of the press. It would be a nightmare if this got out,” JJ spoke, concerned.

Everyone nodded. They knew news like these would bring panic, and that was the last thing they needed right now. 

“Okay, let’s wrap up here then. Do we have a place to set up at the station?” she asked Staton. 

"Yeah, I have a room prepared for you.”

“Good, let’s meet there to discuss the details.” She nodded to the man with a slight smile, trying to calm his nerves. 

He didn’t look particularly reassured, but he wasn’t her biggest worry right now. 

As they were leaving to let the crime scene investigators do their job, she noticed Spencer taking one last look at the bodies, or rather the symbols on them. 

His expression didn’t betray what he was thinking, which only left her more worried. 

Her mind went back to one of the talks they had in the weeks following his kidnapping.

~~~

“No progress in tracking them, huh?” Spencer gave her an apologetic smile as he sat down in her office.

“No, we didn’t have any luck, but you knew that.” She spoke calmly, making indicative eye contact. 

“I heard a few things here and there.” He shrugged, looking away. 

“C’mon, I know you’ve been following the investigation.” She tilted her head, trying to catch his eyes.

“Okay, yeah,” he admitted, “it’s my case after all.” He shot a disgruntled look.

“It is, but you’re the victim here. You know how it works.”

He sighed, obviously irritated. 

“I know it’s frustrating. Maybe you managed to recall more details since our last talk?” 

“I already told you everything I know, there are no more details to recall.” 

“Are you sure?” 

His eyes snapped back at her. 

“Yes. I’m sure.” He glared. 

“Okay, just checking.” She gave a light smile, trying to disperse the tension that already accumulated. 

He shook his head, not convinced. 

“You still think I’m not telling you everything. Do you really think I would be covering for them?” 

“No. I just think what you experienced, the drastic difference between what you thought the Winchesters were like and how they treated you… Maybe it created a sort of confusion, some fondness, a bond you might feel was made while you were held captive.”

He raised his eyes to the ceiling, “Stockholm Syndrome. Are we getting back to that again?”

“Not necessarily.” She shook her head, trying to remain calm while stomping on thin ice. “It might just be the presumptions our profile created, that made the way they treated you seem exceptionally kind.”

He breathed out heavily, twisting his lips. But it looked like some of the irritation went away.

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “I guess it’s not that special to give some good food and books to read.” 

She half smiled, but her happiness escaped her features when she noticed the dismal look on her friend’s face. 

He must’ve not been happy that he had to admit the idealization. But that’s what it was, Winchesters weren’t good people, no matter how nice they were to him.

“So Dean is a good cook then, huh?” She asked in a light voice, trying to change the subject.

To her satisfaction, Reid seemed to light up, even if just a little bit, as he scoffed out a chuckle. 

“Yeah, though he didn’t want to admit it. I think he actually really enjoys cooking for people.” He shook his head in amusement. “Even more so with Sam liking completely different food, he was so…happy that I liked the same things as him.” 

He frowned a bit, his mouth was still rising up but something crept into his thoughts. 

“What is it?” 

“I…I just can’t believe I’m talking about  _ the _ Winchester brothers, ‘America’s most wanted’,” He spoke, disconcerted by the realization. 

“Yeah, it can be confounding to see that even the most violent killers have a human side.”

He didn’t look up, only a soft ‘yeah’ leaving his lips. 

  
  


**…..**

  
  


As Luke walked into the police station with the rest of his team, the unbelievable quietness and order of the place struck a contrast with the house they were just in. 

They were led into a separate conference room to set up. It didn’t oversee the offices, but there were big windows across from the entry. Even with boards obscuring the view, Alvez was happy to have natural lightning in the room. 

“Okay, let’s set up. We have a tough one on our hands.” Emily spoke up as they took a look around.

Everyone made themselves comfortable and began working. The oval table was big enough for all of them, with room to spare. 

The stack of files was soon turned into notes hanging on the boards. Photos of happy families, and under them - the nightmare that took place in their own homes. Soon it all came together to compose a neatly looking wall of the crime.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Luke was first to speak when everything was done, “we have two perfectly happy families, good homes. Then one night it all turns to a bloody slaughterhouse.” He pointed at the grotesque pictures. 

“No triggers, no criminal past…" JJ sighed. She was looking at the board with furrowed brows. "Then these symbols," she walked up to one of the boards, "I'm just wondering where they came from."

“Well, there weren’t any satanic books or symbols in either one of the houses. No interest in rituals or killings of any kind really,” Emily informed them.

They all fell silent. JJ discussed something with Rossi, while Emily was flipping through some files. 

Alvez’s eyes wandered mindlessly to Reid, who stood looking at the boards. 

Luke watched his gaze travel over the boards, visibly working on something in his big brain. His eyes stopped at one point, making Alvez turn his eyes at the board.

Reid was staring at one of the close-ups of a pentagram carved in flesh. He looked back at Reid worried. Don’t go there…

Before he could say anything, Emily spoke up.

“Luke and Rossi, I want you to go interrogate the father. Reid and JJ, go to the morgue to consult the coroner. I’ll work with Garcia for now to see if we can uncover anything new.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and started gathering their things. 

Spencer sighed and went for his bag. 

Deciding to leave it for now, Luke followed Rossi out of the room. 

  
  
  


**…**

  
  


Rossi looked at the handcuffed man through the one-way mirror. 

He was showing distress, hiding his face in his hands, trembling, looking around. He didn’t present as someone capable of committing such an awful crime. Not at the moment at least.

He turned to Luke, the two men nodded to each other and walked in.

The cuffed man immediately stood up when he saw the agents.

“I didn’t do it, please, you have to believe me!” He tried to raise his hands but the handcuffs clattered on his wrists. 

“Sit down and you can tell us all about it,” Luke said calmly. 

David remained calm too, if they wanted to get anything out of the man, he needed to cool off. 

He didn’t listen, just looked between the agents with a pained gaze. 

“Sit, then we can talk. We want you to tell us what happened, but you need to calm down.” Alvez kept his ground, so the guy gave up and finally sat down. 

The agents followed in his footsteps and sat down on the opposite side.

“Okay, Chris. Tell us what happened.” Rossi prompted with an encouraging nod.

“I didn’t do it! My family, I could never hurt them…and like this…” he was still frantic.

“So you remember what happened?” Alvez asked, they were told he didn’t seem to remember the night. 

“Yes, I didn’t at first, it was like I woke up in that alley, my hands…” he lifted his palms and looked at them, “…my hands were covered in blood. Then the police shouted, I didn’t know what was happening. They cuffed me and said I’m being arrested for killing my family. My family! I-I didn’t, I couldn’t.” He started trembling again, sobbing. 

“Okay, okay, why don’t you tell us what happened that night. You’re with your family, with your wife and kids, having dinner maybe? Tell us about the evening.” Luke tried to shift the man’s focus. 

“I-we had a normal evening, just-just like usual. Suzie, my little girl, got a good grade on an important exam, so we baked cookies to celebrate. Everything was normal. When kids fell asleep Marilyn and I started fooling around, you know, we were happy.” The man gave a broken smile. It looked genuine.

“I remember falling asleep next to her. The next thing I know, I’m standing in the kitchen with…with a knife and they’re screaming. I-I wanted to help, I wanted to set them free, help them, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move.” He started sobbing once again. 

“Okay, let’s try something else, here is a pen and some paper.” Rossi took his notepad out of his pocket and laid them on the table. “I want you to write everything you can remember about that night.  _ Everything. _ ” He made eye contact to make sure the man was listening.

“We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of this. But you need to help us, okay?” Luke added.

They both knew talking was futile while the man was so emotional. 

Or pretended to be. 

“Okay, I’ll do what I can. But you have to believe me, I wouldn’t hurt them. It wasn’t…” The man lost his words.

“Wasn’t what..?” Rossi narrowed his eyes, sitting back down just as he wanted to leave. 

He looked up, tears in his eyes. “I-I don’t know, I only remember pieces, but the thing I remember…it was – I think it was - my hand that-“ he gesticulated with his shaking hand, eyes lost. 

Rossi wanted to say something, but the man continued before he could do so. 

“But it wasn’t, it couldn’t be me. Something. It was something that kept…kept cutting,…it enjoyed the whole thing…and I couldn’t stop it.” 

“Enjoyed?” Luke repeated.

Chris looked up terrified, “Not me! It wasn’t me. It was this thing.” The man banged his fist on the table lightly. 

Alvez rose a hand, ready to intervene if needed.

“This thing-it forced me. It forced me! I would never-“ 

The man started rambling, sometimes it wasn’t even words, not ones they could make out at least.

They made their exit, telling him to write down everything. 

Rossi made a point to the guard to watch the man closely. He was anything but stable right now. 

On their way to the conference room Rossi shared what his thoughts were, and so did Luke. They discussed all of it, but it wasn’t leading them anywhere.

  
  


**…..**

  
  


“What were you able to establish?” Reid looked up to the coroner, who was standing by the table on which the body of a woman was placed. It was from the first murder, the mother that killed her husband and kid. 

"Nothing I haven't already put in the file. All the wounds on her are self-inflicted. On the right arm, you can see a star carved in her skin. It’s weird, cause from what I’ve been told she was right-handed. Same on the victims, the wounds were all made with the left hand.” 

Reid narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He looked down at the pentagram, there was no sign of hesitation, just a few clean cuts, almost like a signature. 

“Was she diagnosed with split personality or any other mental issues?” JJ asked. 

“Not to my knowledge, no.” The woman shook her head. 

“And what about the victims?” Spencer asked, raising his head once again.

“Not much on the husband, looks like he was killed before the children. Speaking of which…”

The woman closed the refrigerating unit, and opened a different one. 

The small body occupied only a part of the designated space of that one. It didn’t belong in a place like this.

“This poor little girl got the worst of it, I’m afraid. Numerous lacerations. Not very concise, but definitely made to be painful, somebody really wanted to make this girl suffer.” She shook her head , “I don’t know what possessed these people to do this, but it was not holy, that I can tell you.” 

Reid noticed a cross hanging from the woman’s neck, he understood why she would say something like that, when faced with such a heinous crime. Looking back down at the body, he wondered if there was something to what she said.

“Maybe I’ll be able to establish something more when the new victims are brought in, should be soon. I’ll be providing you with my finds as I go.” 

“We’d appreciate that.” JJ smiled with a sour look on her face. 

They completed their interview and headed back to the station.

**…..**

  
  


Emily was working with Garcia on establishing some kind of a connection between the cases, it couldn't be a coincidence. Two murders happening a few days apart, in the same town, with the same symbols appearing on the bodies.

Despite that, every effort they made to connect the families failed. At most, they shopped in the same gallery. 

But apart from that, there was nothing.

While Kylie, the woman who committed the first killing, attended church every week or so, Christopher and his family didn't seem to practice any faith. They were from different neighbourhoods, their kids attended different schools. Different economic levels, social circles, even sports played. 

JJ and Reid appeared at the door while Emily was going through a file.

“Did you find anything?” she asked as soon as she noticed them, maybe they would bring something new to the table. 

“Not much. The mother was never diagnosed with any mental illness, but that night it seemed almost like she was a completely different person,” JJ answered.

“Seems like that's the only prevalent thing here. There is no connection between the families besides that, nothing.” Prentiss shook her head. 

“Besides the kids,” JJ prompted.

“Yeah, they’re always the center of attention when it comes to torture.” Emily confirmed, nodding her head.

“Looks like someone has a type,” JJ said with disgust on her face.

Prentiss shook her head, feeling the same. 

Rossi and Luke soon joined them.

She turned to them asking for what they had established. 

But they sat down with a sigh. 

_ Well, that’s not a good sign.  _

“What we can tell you, is that that man was not right in the head, maybe still isn’t. He said he enjoyed it, or rather that ‘ _ something in him’ _ enjoyed what he was doing.” Luke said with a wry expression. 

“Like he was after some sort of a psychotic break?” JJ asked.

“He might’ve been, yeah. He was disoriented, emotional, all over the place.” Rossi agreed.

“He could just be really good at acting though.” Alvez put in, but didn’t look so convinced with his own words.

"Wouldn’t be the first time." Emily replied reluctantly.

“But there are no signs in their past pointing to them doing something like this.” JJ pointed out. 

"We need to search deeper then. I’ll have Garcia look into the killer’s childhoods. Maybe they had something in common that prepositioned them for this,” She told the team, not being very hopeful, but there were no other leads they could follow right now.

  
  
  


…

  
  


Prentiss had called Garcia, but she wasn’t able to find anything. She pulled up everything there was regarding the supposed killers, but nothing stood out.

Rossi contemplated the case, an uneasy feeling creeped up his spine. 

Not only were the murders revolving around kids, there had to be satanic symbols. 

Because  _ of course there were. _

Cases like these were the reason why he missed the peace and quiet of just writing books. 

As they were hopelessly searching through the lives of everyone involved in the murders, new photos from the coroner's office were brought in.

Reid grabbed them with interest. 

Rossi wondered what was on his teammate’s mind. After what happened with Winchesters, this had to have an effect on him.

If only he, or anyone on the team for that matter, could figure out what exactly was going through his head. But that was something they gave up way before the whole Winchester situation.

Rossi watched the young agent as he sifted through the new photos. He was going through them quickly, until one of them seemed to get his attention. His wide eyes stared at it, shocked.

He was about to ask him what it was, when he shot up from the table, holding only that picture and discarding all the rest. “I need to talk with Christopher Walton.” 

“The husband? We just talked to him.” Luke turned to him confused. 

David didn’t understand either. 

“I have something I need to discuss, I’m going.” He didn’t wait for approval from Prentiss, or anyone really. He stormed out of the room, taking the photo with him. 

Everyone just looked at each other for a bit, having no idea what got into the genius.

…

He quickly walked down the hall, trying to get a hold of himself.

But it couldn’t be a coincidence. Not  _ this _ .

When no one was around to judge, he picked up the pace even more, heading to the interrogation room.

“Wait!”

He was just about to enter, when he heard Luke’s voice. He looked back and saw the agent coming his way. Oh no.

“Prentiss said I should help you. Maybe you’d like to share what popped into that big brain of yours all of a sudden?” Luke smiled, tilting his head. He wanted to know what Reid was on to. 

This won’t end well. 

“You’ll have to see.” He walked into the room, leaving Alvez in the corridor. It would be easier for him to do this himself. But he couldn’t leave it now. It was too important.

Luke was baffled but followed in.

“Mr. Walton, I need to ask you some questions,” Spencer said before he even placed himself in his seat.

"What-Who are you?" The man asked. Luke noticed he was a bit calmer now, but still looked distressed.

“I’m doctor Spencer Reid, and I believe you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the first chapter!
> 
> I have to tell you though, I started rewatching CM, and now I wish I wrote this with Derek and Hotch...They started to get fuzzy in my mind but now all my love for them returned and I'm bummed they're not a part of this story.
> 
> Maybe I'll do a revised version including them, would anyone like that? The fic would be a tad different in the first part and I'm thinking of writing a completely different second one.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m doctor Spencer Reid, and I believe you.”

Luke turned to his teammate, what did he mean he believed?

Alvez decided it’s best to stay quiet and see what Spencer came up with, maybe it would lead to some kind of a break in the case. 

Nonetheless, a sense of uneasiness came upon him.

“Believe me?” The man blinked, he didn’t understand. 

“I mean,” Reid glanced at Alvez, suddenly unsure, “I read what you said, that you saw everything happening, but couldn’t do anything about it, right? Like you were trapped in your own body?” 

“Ye-Yes, exactly.” The man nodded vigorously. 

“Okay, I want you to look at something and tell me if it brings out any memories.” Reid put the photo he was holding in front of the man.

It was one of the symbols that were carved into the victims. 

“I-I don’t know what this is.” The symbol pictured was cleaned out, it came from the morgue. Luke didn’t recognize it either. 

“I wouldn’t expect you to. But I want you to look at it and tell me what memories it brings out.” Reid joined his hands and put them on the table, staring intensely at the man. 

Christopher didn’t say anything for a second, he looked at the image with disgust. 

Luke was thrown off, and wanted to know what his friend was on to, “Reid, are you…”

“Give him a second.” His friend didn’t wait for his question, or even turn to look at him. 

“I-I remember…Marilyn, carving it, this symbol, I remember her begging me to stop…”

Reid bit his lip, visibly thinking something over.

“Okay, can you go deeper, tell me how it felt? When you cut into her to make that symbol, how did it feel?”

Alvez was only getting more confused, what was this leading to?

The man, however, wasn’t questioning it. He tilted his head looking at the picture, something shifted in his gaze, he looked different. 

“Amusing,” the look on his face didn’t match the tone with which he was speaking. “I wanted to see more, more blood, more flesh, she screamed and I looked at her…” The man jumped up in his seat as if someone had electrocuted him. His eyes were wide open. 

Reid looked at him with interest. Luke shifted his gaze between the killer and his friend, still not understanding what was going on. 

“I-I, no! What-what was that?! I didn’t..! What did you do to me?! That’s not what I felt!” He yelled out, making it seem as if it wasn’t him speaking a moment before.

“It’s okay, I know it’s not.” Reid tried to calm the man down, but at the same time observed him closely.

“Then what the hell was that?!” 

He was agitated, something snapped in him. 

Alvez needed answers,  _ now. _

“Excuse us for a moment. Reid, a word?” Luke glared, this wasn’t a question. 

Spencer complied, taking the photo with him. They walked out of the room. Luke shut the door behind them and stared at Reid. 

“Wanna tell me what that was about? What is this symbol?” he asked sternly, pointing at the picture Reid was holding.

“You don’t want to hear it.” He shook his head, not looking at Alvez. 

_ What the hell? _

“And how did you come to that conclusion?”

“You’ve told me so, five months ago when we talked, you said so.”

“Could you remind me?” Luke raised a brow, he had no idea what the hell Reid was talking about. 

“Okay,” Reid took a deep breath, “remember when we discussed the Winchesters and their hide-out?” 

Luke shut his eyes, not this again. 

“You remember! I talked to you about it, to all of you, but you dismissed it!”

“Yes Reid, because it’s complete nonsense! You were kidnapped, I get that the Winchesters treated you nicely, but it doesn’t mean that what they told you is true!”

“I know it doesn’t,” he protested, “but look at the facts! I’m not saying it’s some supernatural force, I don’t believe in that sort of thing, okay? But what other explanation do you have?” He tilted his head, waving at the door. 

“Drugs! Psychotic break, I don’t know!” 

They stared at each other for a moment. This was getting out of hand.

Luke took a breath. 

“Reid, look, we’ve been through this, okay? We’re on thin ice with the board after the whole Winchester thing. You don’t want to go through it all again, do you?”

Spencer’s face changed. The anger that seemed to boil out of him just a moment ago was gone. Something else took its place. 

“Okay, you’re right. This case is just getting to me, I guess. Can we keep this between ourselves?” He smiled softly.

Luke bit his lip. Damn it, that’s not fair.

He breathed out, “Okay, fine, but isn’t this relevant to the case?” 

“It’s nothing certain. I’ll work on it and if I find anything I’ll let you guys know. Until then let’s keep this to ourselves, okay?”

“Okay. But  _ you’re _ explaining why you ran out like your ass was on fire.” Alvez pointed a finger. 

He couldn’t believe how easy it was for the young agent to convince him.

“I can do that.” Reid smiled to which Luke sighed, slightly shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Do you need something more from the guy?” He jerked his head at the door. 

Spencer seemed to consider it, but ultimately shook his head. 

“No, I’ll work on this for now.”

“And you’ll tell me if you come up with something?” Luke raised his eyebrows. 

“Yes,  _ I will, _ ” He confirmed, a bit mockingly. 

Alvez half rolled his eyes, starting to walk back. 

Was this the right thing to do? It was weird, but maybe he should let it slide. 

He didn’t want Spencer to shut down on him,  _ not again. _

As they walked back, he remembered one of the conversations they had. 

~~~

“You don’t get it. You weren’t there.” 

Luke’s irritation grew at the words of his friend. 

They met at the elevators that day. It was a few days after they got him back, when they were still working the case. 

“Yeah, Reid. You said that already.” He sighed, pouring himself his morning coffee. 

“Then I don’t know what else you want me to say.” 

Apparently he wasn’t the only one getting irritated with this conversation.

Spencer would get this way when they questioned his view of the Winchesters. 

“I just want to make sure you know that their behaviour could’ve changed drastically if we didn’t do what they wanted. What do you think would happen if we didn’t agree to release Novak? Or Castiel, whatever,” he corrected himself before Reid could do it for him. 

“They told me they would think of something else.” 

“And you believed that?” 

“I don’t know, okay? Before I thought they would torture me just for the fun of it, but…”

He spun around and grabbed another cube of sugar, adding it to his mug. 

Luke’s mouth twisted in distaste at the thought of the sugar-filled drink. 

“Listen, Emily already ordered me into weekly meetings with her. I don’t need more people questioning me right now.” 

“We’re just worried. 

~~~

They reached the door, looking at each other one more time before walking in. 

**…..**

  
  


When he and Luke came back, everyone’s attention turned to them.  _ Right _ . 

“So, what was so urgent you couldn’t be bothered to explain to us before sprinting off?” Emily asked jokingly, but he knew she was seriously questioning his actions. 

“It was nothing. I recognized a symbol I haven’t seen before and wanted to see if it has any significance to the unsub.”

He didn’t look Emily in the eye, something he could never do when telling a lie. He circled the table and sat on the opposite side.

“And? Did you find anything out?” She turned to Luke to get an answer, but he didn’t answer.

Oh yeah.  _ He _ has to explain. 

“Oh, he just told us what he’s said before, that he couldn’t stop himself and so on, you know.” Reid caught up and answered instead. 

Emily turned to him, narrowing her eyes slightly. 

It made him look away, while trying to play it off as nothing. 

The man’s words, _ nothing. _

The way his eyes shifted, how his expression didn’t match his voice.

_ It was nothing. _

It could be a breakdown. Psychosis.  _ Anything _ . 

Anything that actually existed. 

Because demons  _ didn’t _ . 

And he was foolish to tell the man he believed him, when he didn’t even know what to believe in right now. 

He took a glance back at Emily, and she was looking at him too. 

She suspected something was off, and she was right this time. 

Her eyes questioned him for a moment that felt like eternity.

But she let it go. 

“Well, we had no luck either. There is absolutely nothing which links the families, they might’ve as well been living in different cities,” she informed, sighing in resignation.

He took a breath of relief as she took the attention away from him.

“Yeah, nothing that could make them vulnerable to this kind of attack,” Rossi added. 

"I think we should go get some rest, we've been on this the whole day," Emily told the team. 

She was right, from the morning they arrived they didn’t even take a break.

The agents nodded in agreement.

It’s been a long day.

  
  


**…..**

  
  


It was long after they'd all said goodnight, the lights were out and most members of the BAU were sleeping. 

Not Reid though, who’s been tossing and turning in his bed the whole time. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about the case, or rather what he was told five months ago while held captive.

What he read about. 

_ That symbol.  _

It didn’t appear at the first crime scene, but when the files summarizing the damage done to the wife were brought in, he recognized it immediately. 

It was the Men of Letters symbol, the same that was all over Winchesters’ bunker. 

Well, it is also a unicursal hexagram, and might not have anything to do with them. 

But it stood out from all the childish, basic go-to satanic symbols. 

One way or another, running off like that was a bad decision.

It just brought attention to him. And every time attention was on him, the same questions appeared. 

But when he saw that symbol, something  _ moved _ .

Something that’s been sitting on his chest ever since he was captured by the brothers.

The fact that there was no other explanation for all of this wasn’t helping either. 

What could possibly cause someone to just turn around and violently murder the people they loved? 

Possession fit perfectly.

Only problem being – it wasn’t rational, and he was painfully aware of that fact.

If he was to bring it up to his team, they would think he’s crazy. Hell, he would think the same if he heard someone say something like that.

He pressed his face against his pillow and grumbled into it.

All this thinking wasn’t getting him anywhere. 

He sat up and unlocked his phone, the bright light hurting his eyes. 

Squinting, he searched the nearest library that was open at these hours. 

If he can’t sleep, he might as well do some work. 

  
  


**…..**

  
  


It was a few hours later, but he didn’t learn nearly as much as he hoped he would. 

His search was futile right from the start, when the exhausted librarian looked at him funny for wanting to read about demonic possession in the middle of the night. 

After buying himself coffee to help stay awake, he made himself comfortable, sitting by a table in the back. 

He read about instances of people being “possessed”. The things these people did while being  _ supposedly _ possessed ranged from lifting heavy objects and speaking tongues, to trying and sometimes succeeding in hurting others. 

That was besides the people claiming demonic possession as defence in court, of course. 

But there was nothing like what they were encountering right now. Nothing that could actually help him.

He looked out the window, thinking about the whole thing. There was no actual proof that possessions were real and he was, after all, a man of science. 

Then there are the Winchesters, who believe in this sort of thing to the point of murdering people. And well, there was no question that that was wrong, nothing excused them. And  _ if  _ all of that was true and real, why couldn’t they just exorcise the demon possessing someone instead of stabbing them with their ‘demon-killing’ knife, as Sam put it? That made no sense. 

They said they wanted to save people.

He looked away from the window, sighing. There were a lot of things he still didn’t understand about the brothers. He wished he could just ask some more questions.

Without thinking about it, he pulled out his wallet and reached for a piece of paper he placed there all these months ago. 

“Only emergencies, kid” appeared before his eyes. Should he..?

Someone passing by made him shove it back in, like he's done something bad.

He exhaled as the momentary panic left his body. 

_ What was he even doing? _

When he looked at the clock, it was almost 7 a.m. 

His team would be in the office soon enough, might as well head there already. 

  
  


**…..**

  
  


Reid arrived at the station before anyone else. It was still quiet, no one paid much attention to him, which made him happy. 

He knew Garcia was probably already at her office, if not then she just wouldn’t answer. No harm in calling. 

And he needed someone to talk to. 

She did answer after a few beeps, but her voice sounded like she just woke up.

"Garcia? Did you fall asleep in your office again?" Reid pulled the screen closer. He didn't need an answer, her messy hair and bloodshot eyes said it all.

“What-no, of course not…okay, maybe.”

Spencer laughed, Penelope was even worse of a liar than he was. 

“It’s okay, I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Oh, boy wonder, I forgot. It must be awful for you, these kills, and those awful symbols…how are you doing?” 

For some reason, Garcia's worry wasn't as bothersome as the others’. Maybe it's because she never treated him like someone who needs to be taken care of.

“I’m alright…I mean,” he looked away, not being able to put his words together.

Garcia waited patiently. 

“I know what the team thinks when they see these symbols. They worry so much, and the questions… I told you guys, I don’t need help, okay? I don't need counselling. The brothers just turned out different than we expected, doesn't mean I have Stockholm syndrome either! And Luke and Emily! They just… I don’t know how to talk to you guys anymore. They just keep treating me like a child! Like if they’re not careful I might break. It’s not…I’m not…” 

Reid realized what he was doing and stopped in his tracks. He looked at the screen, a bit scared of what he might hear next. 

Garcia, however, didn't say anything, she just looked at her friend with compassion. 

He looked down at the keyboard, ashamed of his sudden outburst.

“Reid, listen, no one can force you to do anything. If you say you’re okay, I believe you. I can’t attest for the others, but I’m sure you just need to talk to them, they’ll understand eventually.” 

He looked up and breathed out with relief. “What if they won’t?” He asked softly. 

“Well…then you’ll have me to vent to. But Spence, I’m sure they will, just give them some more time.” 

He exhaled, a bit calmer, “maybe you’re right.” 

"Yeah..? Oh, I wish I could hug you! Come on, a cyber hug is the best I can do." Penelope proceeded to hug her screen, which made Reid laugh. He rubbed his eyes and felt somewhat better.

“You’ll be okay in there? Remember you can always call me.” 

“Yeah, I’m good, thank you.” Reid smiled, which Garcia reciprocated. 

Saying all of his frustrations out loud did make him feel a bit better. 

"Oh, I didn't expect to find you here," Emily said upon entering the room. She held a cup of coffee in her hand and looked like she didn’t get much sleep either. 

“I could say the same about you, it’s still early.” He responded, trying to sound casual.

“Yeah, I only got a few hours of sleep, this case is bugging me.” 

“Does no one on this team sleep anymore?” Garcia’s voice sounded in the room. 

“Oh, Penelope, didn’t know you were on the line,” Emily said, surprised. 

“Yeah, I stayed up searching for anything we might have missed.”

“And?” 

“Nada.”

“That’s what I thought.” Emily was irritated. “You’ll be staying with us for the briefing?”

“Might as well do. I’ll just go get myself ten shots of espresso. See you.” That was the last thing they heard before the connection ended. 

An awkward silence fell between the two of them for a moment. The question was in the air, Reid could feel it coming.

But when he looked at Emily, she was writing something in one of the files. 

He breathed out with relief, maybe he was just getting paranoid at this point. 

They heard someone in the other room, probably the team arriving. Someone shouted something, but it wasn’t their team. 

A young officer appeared in the door. “Um, it looks like there was another murder.” 

They looked at each other and jumped up from their seats. 

The station was a mess, everyone talking or getting ready to go to the scene. 

The officer accompanied them as they walked, “Sheriff Staton will be meeting you at the scene. But I heard this one is different than the previous ones.” 

Emily frowned. She asked for details but nobody seemed to know much yet. 

Spencer had a bad feeling about this. It had to be something bigger, the whole office was buzzing. 

They arrived at the scene right after the rest of the team. But it wasn’t a house this time. 

This time, it was a school. 

And it was much, much worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments! 
> 
> They worked great in motivating me to work on this story, so it's thanks to you guys that this is being posted!
> 
> Even with both shows ended, I hope there is still an audience for this crossverse, because I have lots of ideas!
> 
> See you in the next chapter! I think I'll post it next weekend :)


	3. Chapter 3

The school’s main entrance flashed in red and blue. A crowd of people was already gathering. Everyone was screaming and pushing against the blockade the police had set up. 

When Reid and Prentiss pushed through, they joined the rest of their team, along with Staton, by one of the police cars.

All of them with frowned faces and tense postures, trying to prepare themselves for what was inside. 

Only exchanging nods, they headed inside.

“The janitor found them this morning. He’s talking with my guys right now, but you’re free to question him after.” 

“Thank you,” Emily nodded, “has anyone been inside?” she asked as they walked through the entrance. 

“No, we just got here ourselves.” Staton informed. 

“The janitor said that there was blood coming out of one of the classrooms. He checked inside and, uh,” Luke was relying to them, but got stuck.

“And?” Prentiss frowned, she didn’t like the sound of that. 

“A lot of bodies.” The chief glanced at her briefly. 

She took a breath, preparing herself mentally for what was about to come. 

They could see the opened classroom as they turned corners. And as they were told, blood was coming out of it.

They stopped at the door, not wanting to step into all the blood. 

A look inside was enough. 

First thing they saw was a body of a young woman, sprawled across the teacher’s desk. A long, deep slash decorated her throat. Her eyes were open, facing the door. Facing  _ them. _

Deeper inside, at the students’ desks, there were six kids. Seated separately, they had so many cuts and bruises and… _ burns -  _ it looked like - that it was hard to distinguish between them. 

Emily’s throat closed up, the image paired with a foul smell almost made her throw up. 

She took a step back to take a breath. 

The rest of the team seem to do so as well. 

“How the hell did six kids get here without anybody noticing?” Alvez questioned, not really looking at anyone, just trying to get a hold of the situation. 

Emily shook her head, “it looks like they’re wearing pyjamas. Someone must’ve taken them from their homes.”

“I’ll get my techs in here immediately, maybe they can find something.” Staton informed them, without looking at anyone, then hurriedly headed towards the exit. 

She couldn’t blame him. A view like that wasn’t something even they were prepared for.

She turned back to the team, and saw Spencer not talking with anyone. Instead, from a bit of distance, he was still looking inside, clutching his leather bag in his fist. 

As she took a few steps in his direction, he turned away from the scene, realizing she was watching. 

“Are you okay?” She asked with concern audible in her voice. 

His eyes never met hers, but she could swear she saw a flash of anger. Or maybe regret? She couldn’t make it out. 

Before she had the chance, he murmured something about fresh air as he turned on his heel and walked away. 

She joined the team in a discussion, but she was barely listening as she watched Spencer walk down the corridor and eventually disappear behind the corner. 

“He okay?” Rossi startled her slightly, leaning over to ask. 

She shook her head, “I have no idea.” 

**…**

  
  
  


_ This can’t be happening. All those kids. Tortured. Dead. _

His thoughts raced as he walked away from the scene. 

It was just one symbol and now…

His breathing got heavy as he rushed out of the building.

It couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? It had to mean  _ something. _

He didn’t want to say anything, because it was just one symbol. 

But  _ now? _

The kids.  _ All of them. They all had the symbol on them.  _

It looked that way at least. He saw two he was sure of, and bloody marks on the other kids’ foreheads were likely the same. 

He walked to the side, away from everyone, to have some privacy in all the chaos. 

His shaky hands pulled out his wallet as he looked around once more, making sure there was no one near him. 

_ I have to do this  _ \- he thought to himself, dialling the number. 

_ They could help, they specialize in this kind of thing.  _

He assured himself as he pressed the phone to his ear.

Three signals went by agonizingly slow, before someone picked up.

“Yeah?” The voice sounded on the other side. 

He didn’t answer, maybe he shouldn’t do this. 

“Who’s this?” The voice was sharper now, impatient.

“Dean?” 

Silence fell, for a moment Reid thought the man had hung up. 

“Kid? That you?” The voice was softer now. 

“Yeah, Ehm, I need to ask you something…I mean, that note that you left me, are we still on?”

“Note…oh, yeah, sure, ask away.” 

“Okay,” he breathed out, the image of all the bodies flashed before him. It will be stuck in his mind forever now.

“I didn’t know what to do, we have this case and nothing makes sense. There are so many bodies. We can’t figure out a connection and people are killing each other…” he stumbled over his words, unsure where to start or what to say.

“You think it’s a demon?” 

The sudden question caught him off guard, did he think it was a demon? 

No, he just wanted some expertise. The Winchesters have devoted their lives to this kind of thing. Then there was the symbol thing. 

“Something else?” Dean asked after some silence. 

“No, no. I mean, I don’t know. Just, there are kids…dead kids. They had this symbol…And there was this weird smell too. It smelled like-“ 

He bit his tongue. 

“Sulfur. Like when there is demon activity.” 

“…Yeah.” Reid still wasn’t comfortable with that word.  _ Demons _ . He imagined saying it to his team. 

“What symbols did you see?” 

“That's the main reason I'm calling you, that symbol… The one Sam told me was The Men of Letters sigil. It was-uh, I’m pretty sure all the kids had it carved into their foreheads.”

“How many?” Dean’s voice was lower, like he was speaking through gritted teeth. 

“Six this time. And a woman.”

“Damn it. Why haven’t we heard about this? Where are you?”

“Uh, we’re in Springfield, Illinois. We’ve been keeping everything out of the press, but this one is already being broadcasted.” 

He glanced at the media vans parked nearby, and the police officers trying to keep everyone behind the set up line.

“Damn media management. Okay, can you tell if there was…” 

Reid quickly put his phone down when he saw JJ peeking out the corner of the building.

“We’re going back to the station, coming?” She asked. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” He confirmed quickly, his voice a bit higher than he wanted it to be.

When JJ disappeared behind the corner, he looked back at his phone. The connection was gone. He sighted, shoving it back in his pocket and went ahead. 

_ This was a bad idea. _

  
  


**…..**

  
  


Everyone slowly gathered back in the station. 

Spencer heard Emily telling the chief that they’ll discuss the murder and then talk to his officers. 

What would they say though? They had nothing concrete.

They sat down in the conference room, Garcia on the line with them. 

“Okay, we need to figure out what the hell just happened in that school. And fast. Parents whose kids are missing are waiting to make a confirmation. This won’t be pretty,” Emily stated, her face was even more serious than it has been so far. 

She was getting really pissed off by now, Reid could see it. 

And it wasn’t just her, the whole team was feeling it. The helplessness. 

The team discussing the case blended into a background noise, as he got lost in his thoughts.

Questions of whether he should share what he was thinking appeared again. More than what he was thinking. He had actually called Dean. 

_ What would the team say? _

He didn’t want to think about that. 

But his mind decided to go through the past few months anyway. 

The concern. The questions. The talks and fights. 

Battling the unpleasant memories, he stopped at one of the few good ones.

~~~

It was a late evening at the bureau, the stash-of-files-so-big-it-might-topple-over ones. 

Spencer knocked on Garcia’s door before walking in. 

He had a few files for her to go over so they could finally call it a day. 

She turned around in her chair and smiled as she saw him.

“No need to knock, sugar.” 

“Yeah, sorry.” He gave her a half smile, “I have some files for you.”

“Oh,” she responded unenthusiastically and reached for them, “why does no one ever bring me cupcakes? Or a puppy, that would be nice,” she trailed off, looking through the files. 

Reid chuckled, “can’t promise a puppy, but I’ll see what I can do about cupcakes.” 

She raised her head to look at him once more, “aw, that’s so sweet of you.”

He nodded in response and turned around to exit. 

“You okay there?” She asked just before he could leave. 

“Yes, I’m fine. You guys don’t need to keep asking all the time,” he responded in a slightly irritated tone. 

It’s been over a month since the kidnapping, but he could still feel everyone breathing over his shoulder.

But as he turned he noticed a puzzled look on his friend’s face. 

“Uh, I was actually asking because of that icky case we just had.”

_ Oh.  _ She looked a bit hurt over his outburst.  _ Damn it. _

“Sorry, I’m on edge about the whole thing.” 

“I can see  _ that _ .” She nodded her head at him.

He gave an apologetic smile. 

“It really was nothing like we thought, huh?” 

“To say the least,” he snickered. 

His smile got clouded after a second, remembering the team’s response to that. 

“But Emily doesn’t want to hear any of the good parts, she says they were probably just an act.” He sighed. 

“But you don’t think so?” 

He shook his head without looking up. 

“You wanna talk about those?” 

He raised his head, did she actually ask that?

“I guess,” he confirmed, uncertain where this was leading. 

“Then c’mon, tell me.” 

She reached for a stool from under the desk, tapping on it so he would sit down. 

A bit amused, he did as instructed.

“So, what was it like?” She sat back in her chair, taking a mug from her desk and looking at him with eyes void of judgement. 

“Well, like I said before. They cooked and gave me books. But we also talked a lot. They actually told me about a few of their, uh, cases.”

He shot an uncertain look, but Garcia seemed to be interested more than anything.

“Hunts, they call them. We spent an evening just… Laughing.” 

A corner of his lips went up as he remembered that night.

“I guess at some point we all just forgot what was going on. Like we were just hanging out.”

Penelope had a look of disbelief on her face. 

“I know it sounds strange. You guys must’ve been freaking out.” 

He pinched his lips in a sign of guilt. He couldn’t imagine what the team was going through while he was just sitting around at the ‘delusional killers’ secret hide-out.

“To say the least,” the woman confirmed, at the same time poking fun at his earlier reply. 

He smiled warmly at her. In spite of how distressed she must’ve been at the time, she still made him feel welcome to talk about the parts other team members didn’t want to hear about.

“And did I mention Dean’s burgers?” He asked lightly, trying to lift the mood. 

Garcia caught on and squinted at him humorously, “no, I don’t think you did.” 

He laughed, “okay, don’t tell Rossi but…”

~~~

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard his name being called.

“Yes?” He straightened up, focusing on Emily as he was sure it was her voice calling him.

“I asked if you could map out all the murder sites along with the houses the children were taken from,” Prentiss repeated, raising her brows a bit. 

“Yeah, sure,” he nodded, agreeing quickly.

When she took her attention off of him he let his breath out. 

Reminding himself to not lose focus again - as that would bring questions - he made sure to look attentive. 

“After confirmations, we’ll visit the houses of the victims to search for clues. Forensics are working on the crime scene right now, we’ll have the preliminary report soon. We’ll give the profile later today and tomorrow morning we’ll hold a conference to address the murders.”

“But we still have no proof there even  _ is _ a third party involved,” Rossi questioned with a worried frown. 

Emily sighed, “I know, we’ll have to rely on victimology.” 

_ Only that’s all over the place, too - _ Reid thought. 

But looking around his teammates, it didn’t need to be said. They were all puzzled by what was happening, not even having a solid lead to focus on. 

_ This is gonna be a long day.  _

  
  


…

It was late evening when the whole team gathered back in the office after the exhausting day. 

And after hours of interviews, tears, questions, and watching mutilated corpses, they were only more flustered about it all.

The leads they had were all dead ends. 

“No signs of forced entry.” 

“No drugs found in any of the victims.”

“No unknown DNA or fingerprints at the scene.” 

Just more and more questions, when they were supposed to find answers.

Reid tapped his pen against the file he was reviewing,  _ should he tell his team? _

Now that they had a look up close in the morgue, he knew with certainty that it was the Winchester’s symbol carved into the bodies. 

But he couldn’t tell his team that.

So for now, it was just a unicursal hexagram. Or at least that’s what he said when asked about it. 

_ Just so happens that the super-secret Winchester hideout was plastered with it.  _

He felt bad about practically lying to his team, but talking about the symbol meant bringing up the Winchesters and he knew how that would end. 

_ One more conversation with the brothers. That’s it. _

He had to get answers. Actual answers. Not a few minutes in secret. He needed to consult them, talk through everything.

But that wasn’t easy to do when you have to hide who you’re talking to.

He decided to just focus on what was in front of him. Even if it felt pointless. 

…

It was well into the night when they decided to call it. 

Prentiss was pissed. All dead ends and no new leads. 

After such an escalation, you’d think there would be  _ something. _

But no, just more dead kids. 

_ And then there was Spencer.  _

He was behaving weirdly from the beginning, but since the murder at the school he was acting even more strange.

Sneaking around, getting lost in thought, not talking, or suddenly running off.

It was time they talked. 

After deciding they should all go get some rest, she made sure to catch Reid alone. 

She gathered the files as the other team members were leaving, keeping an eye out for the young agent. 

“Oh, Reid! Just one more thing.” She inquired when he was leaving.

He walked up to where she was standing, “what is it?” 

As she looked at him, she noticed a sense of uneasiness. Something was bothering him and she had a guess about what it was. 

“Nothing really, I just wanted to ask…”

“…if everything’s okay?” Reid raised his eyebrows. 

He knew.

Emily sighed, tilting her head slightly. Always such a wise guy.

“Yeah, because I know you wouldn’t tell me if something wasn’t.”

Spencer snickered, but they both knew it was true. He always hated people “babying him”, even if the situation was serious. 

“I mean, yesterday you stormed out of the room without a word, and I know something happened, but Luke won’t tell me what.”

“You asked him?” He turned to her with an accusatory tone.

“I didn’t have to, he’s not that good at hiding stuff when it comes to people he cares about.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Reid chuckled, a bit bitterly. 

“So I’m asking  _ you _ , is everything alright?” She wanted to catch his eyes, but he avoided her gaze.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

That didn’t sound convincing. And Spencer must’ve realized that too, as he took a deep breath.

“I need to know if something’s wrong, Spencer. You know you can talk to me, right?” She insisted.

“We’ve talked plenty already, there is nothing more to say. I’m  _ fine _ .” He glanced over her face as his tone got more impatient. 

But there  _ was _ more to say. She just had a feeling it wasn’t something he wanted to share. She watched as he fidgeted, still not meeting her eyes. 

“Reid-“ 

“We should go, the team is waiting for us downstairs.” 

He grabbed his bag and walked out before she had a chance to say anything. 

She just stood there with her mouth slightly open.

_But everything_ _was fine, right?_

  
  


**…..**

  
  


When they got to the motel, it was way too late to be calling anyone. 

Feeling aggravated, sleeping proved to not be an option either. 

Tossing and turning in his bed for hours, he got up before 6 a.m. to go through everything once more. 

No leads, no explanation how someone could pull this off. 

_ Obviously. What exactly did you expect?  _

His very brain started to irritate him. Its logical side making fun of him for every question that popped into his head regarding anything remotely supernatural.

After the clock showed 7 he couldn’t wait anymore. 

He grabbed his phone and took out the note Dean had left him. 

He didn’t need it anymore, as he saved the number, but he wanted some sort of reassurance. 

Staring at it for a bit, he took a breath and started dialling. 

“Pick up, pick up…” Spencer was talking to himself, while his phone was answering only with long beeps interjecting the silence of his darkly lit room. 

The signal went dead. 

_ Damn it. _

He made two calls and the brothers didn’t answer. 

Should he make a third? No, he probably shouldn’t. 

He decided on a text, “It’s Spencer Reid, I need your help. Call me.” 

Was that good? Should he send that? 

He erased the message.

“Could you help me with the case? I could use your knowledge. Reid.” 

No, that’s not right.

He erased again and typed in the original message. 

He bit his lip and clicked send, trying not to overthink. 

Five minutes passed, no answer. 

They’re probably asleep. Or busy.

It’s not like Spencer’s problems should be a priority to them. 

Yeah, they’re probably busy. 

_ Yeah, killing people.  _ – Luke’s voice sounded in Reid’s head. 

He shook the thought away and decided to get ready for the day. It was no good hanging on the phone with a case like that.

But there wasn’t much else to do either.

Annoyed, he threw his phone on the bed and walked over to the closet to get dressed.

  
  


**……**

When Emily’s ringtone woke her in the morning, she took a breath of relief. 

_ No murder this night. _

Or at least not one they knew about. 

She was hoping it was the first, not the latter, even killers have to rest,  _ right? _

She got up and prepared for the day. 

As she was packing up the files that were laying on the table, she skipped through them, stopping on one of the photos. The symbol on it didn’t ring any bells, so she closed the file and walked out. 

While she was locking the door to her room, Rossi walked out of his. They greeted each other and walked down the hall together. 

"Coffee?" Rossi asked.

He probably noticed her tired face. She nodded as they entered the elevator. 

~

It was still early when they entered the coffee shop which was right by the motel they were staying in. 

Rossi ordered his usual and noticed Emily taking a double.

After a moment of waiting for their order, Prentiss yawned to which he chuckled.

“I’m guessing you didn’t get much sleep,” he said, as more of a statement than a question. 

Emily grumbled under her breath, “I kept waking up to check my phone.”

“I used to do that too.” He nodded, now even with a case like this one, he had his ways to get a good night’s sleep. Sometimes it made him question if he wasn’t too detached. 

But his methods aside, something irked him about this one nonetheless. 

He turned to Emily and noticed her distant gaze, something was bugging her. 

“Something else that kept you up?” 

“Hmm?” She looked at him, confused, before the question got to her. “Oh, I don’t know, this whole case, I guess…” she looked back in the distance. 

It seemed like there was more to it, but David didn’t comment.

“I’m also worried about Reid,” she added after a moment of silence.

“So that’s it.” 

“What?” 

“That’s what’s really on your mind.” He smiled slightly, looking at her.

They all worried about their genius. Taking glimpses to see if he was okay, trying to figure out what he was thinking while looking at all this satanic stuff. 

Of course, no one had any luck with that. 

They got their coffee and headed to the SUV, where the rest of the team would join them in a bit. 

“What exactly are you worried about, with Reid I mean?”

“I don’t know, he’s just acting weird. It’s our first case involving something satanic since…you know.” Emily took a sip from her cup. 

“I know, but I think we need to trust him more. What is he going to do, call the Winchesters?” Rossi chuckled. 

“I mean, he has their number.” Prentiss tilted her head, arching an eyebrow. 

“He wouldn’t give that up, would he?” 

“No, I let him keep it, he kept insisting on it.” She shook her head lightly.

“You think he still has it?” 

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Emily gazed distantly through the windshield and took a gulp of her coffee. 

He only gave a ‘hmm’ in response, they could both only wonder.

The rest of the team soon joined them and they headed to the station together.

  
  


**…..**

  
  


The briefing started as usual, with Garcia on the line and Prentiss explaining what they’ll focus on today. 

“We’ll be interrogating Christopher Walton once again, he’s presumably calmed down since yesterday, so maybe he’ll tell us something new,” Emily told the team.

“He better, we need a new lead,” Rossi stated with an impatient expression. 

“Yeah,” Prentis agreed unwillingly. “We have full reports from the latest crime scene, we'll go through them together.” Emily handed the files out while speaking.

Reid got a file from the coroner, which was objectively more interesting than reading about how all the smears on the walls were placed and how much blood was on the floors. 

Everyone settled in, they knew they’ll be here for a while. 

~

After about two hours the team started discussing the new findings. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Alvez argued. 

“It’s what forensics discovered, they can’t be wrong about something like this.” JJ waved a file in her hand. 

“I get someone doing this, or forcing someone to. But this?” Luke raised his palms up in resignation.

“Well, it’s obvious from the angles of the cuts,” Emily spoke up, not looking up from the pictures and descriptions laid in front of her.

“So they all just tortured each other to death?” Rossi’s brows were furrowed, he was completely dumbfounded. 

He wasn’t alone. The whole team was feeling a mix of disgust, confusion and irritation. 

Reid was uneasy as well. All of this with no  _ logical _ explanation.

His leg bounced under the table, as his teammates discussed feverously. 

He was flipping through pages and crime scene photos, desperate to find… _ something _ .

Something  _ reasonable. _

But there was nothing of the sort. 

His irritation grew, as did the mess around him. 

Another photo, a cut, another, a carving, a bruise, a  _ burn _ . 

His leg started bouncing harder, making the table tremble a bit with it. 

More pictures, demonic signs all over. 

The discussion around him was getting louder, too loud. 

His head pounded.

A ringtone joined in to create more noise. 

He flipped a folder shut in exasperation. 

_ Wait, isn’t that his ringtone? _

A panic came over him as he remembered.

_ There was only one person that could be calling him right now. _

He turned abruptly to where it was coming from. But it was too late.

JJ was holding it, looking frozen in the movement of handing it to him. 

He quickly took it from her.

Just a glance and his fear was confirmed. 

He hid it away quickly, hoping there would be no questions. 

_ But of course… _

“Reid, who was that?” she asked.

“Uh…” 

His brain froze. At the same moment, the conversation in the room died down. 

_ Great. _

“Um, I don’t know, some telemarketer probably,” he blurted out, immediately regretting what he said. That made no sense. 

“No, it wasn’t.” 

He looked over to the blonde woman. Her brows were furrowed, her eyes carefully watching him. 

“Who was it then?” Emily chimed in. 

He glanced at her, the same expression on her face. 

Then he realized,  _ the whole team was listening.  _

He looked down to his phone, which was now turned off. 

“It wasn’t a telemarketer _ , Reid, Dean W _ .?” 

He closed his eyes _. This couldn’t actually be happening.  _

“Dean W,” Emily repeated, which made the team turn to her, Reid looked at her too.

“Was that who I think it was?”

“Uh…” 

_ What was he even supposed to say? _

“Reid, why was Dean Winchester calling you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Please leave your thoughts about the story, I love to read what you guys are thinking!


	4. Chapter 4

“Reid, why was Dean Winchester calling you?”

“Uh, no, I mean…” he started chuckling nervously, looking at his phone. When he looked up, his team was still glaring at him.  _ Right _ . 

No backing away now. No lie was going to save him, he might as well tell the truth. 

“Okay,” he looked between his teammates, “he called because I asked him to.” 

"You aske- so it  _ was _ Dean Winchester?" Luke still couldn't believe it was, in fact, the serial killer they've been chasing all these years.

“Yes.”

“Wait, does that mean you’ve been in contact all this time?” Prentiss asked in an accusatory tone.

“No! We only had one conversation, when we were at the school. I just wanted to ask about something.” Reid explained quickly, seeing Emily’s face. 

“And you weren’t going to tell us?” JJ asked, but in contrast with Emily, her voice sounded more hurt than anything. 

“I wanted to figure something out first.” He tried to explain, but he knew how it sounded all too well. 

“And you decided to ask  _ delusional serial killers _ for advice?” Luke threw in. 

“I can explain.” He glanced between the agents. 

“We’re waiting.” Rossi gestured with his hand.

_ Right then.  _ He took a breath, mentally preparing for the conversation.

“I know all this satanic stuff might be random, but there is a symbol that I think might be connected to them.” 

“Might be?” Emily tilted her head, displeased with his reasoning. 

“It’s all over their bunker. It’s like  _ their  _ symbol,” He exclaimed, but nothing he said would make the situation better now.

He flipped through the mess that was in front of him, searching for a photo.

“ _ This _ ,” he held the photograph for the team to see, “this doesn’t fit here.” He shook the photograph he was holding, desperate to explain himself.

“You said it was, uh…” Rossi waved his wrist, trying to remember the word.

“A unicursal hexagram, yes. But that’s no typical satanic symbol like all the other ones.” 

He sifted through photographs of other wounds, “a pentagram, an upside down cross, even a 666,” he shook his head, putting the images in front of himself. 

“All of these are well known, basic symbols, then there's this one.” He tapped on the hexagram carved into a child’s forehead. “It’s not even satanic, it’s a, uh, of protective nature, so to speak.” 

He looked between his teammates, restless for their reaction. 

“So,” Prentiss spoke up, “you knew all this, and you didn’t tell us any of it.” 

She lifted her gaze off of the pictures, staring right into his eyes. 

“It’s not like that.” He shook his head vigorously.

But his voice lost confidence under Emily’s cold stare. 

“Then how is it, Reid? You were handling symbolism and you hid information we could’ve used.” 

Her voice didn’t go up, it was just…cold.  _ Disappointed _ .

“It wouldn’t lead us anywhere. I’ve been over this hundreds of times. The only thing it leads to are the Winchesters, and I didn’t…”

“Didn’t what, Spencer?” Rossi asked, his thick brows were forming a deep frown.

“I didn’t want to bring them up. I didn’t want…” his eyes fell to his hands, if only he could go back and stop all this…

“Reid.” Emily prompted him to talk.

“I didn’t want you questioning me again.” He looked up for a moment, a bit of anger crawling on his tongue. 

“That’s why you kept this from us? Because we questioned your image of the Winchesters?” Luke snapped back.

He gritted his teeth a bit, “it’s not ‘my image’, it’s the way they behaved the whole time I was there.” He glared, barely holding back the resentment. 

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Alvez leaned in on the table, “did it ever cross your mind that they were just acting nice?” 

“And why would they do that?” 

“This! You, defending them. Maybe that’s exactly what they wanted!” Luke waved his hand at him. 

Reid shook his head. It couldn’t be _. _

_ But what if..? _

“Let’s just take a breath here, okay?” JJ spoke up. 

Reid turned to her and his anger was gone momentarily. He was grateful she stepped in, before they said something they would have regretted. 

But she paid him no attention, even though he was looking right at her. Only vaguely glancing in his direction, then she turned to the team. 

“We need to think about what…we just learned.” Another vague glance.

It made Reid uneasy, more so than before.

_ Just look at me, Jay, c’mon. _

“We should go through everything again.” She pointed towards the files. “Or there could be more bodies soon.” 

She wasn’t facing him, which for some reason hurt more than Emily’s coldness or Luke’s anger. Those were better than silence, better than  _ nothing. _

“I have a better idea,” Emily spoke up, and Spencer had a feeling he wouldn’t like what she was about to say. 

“If Reid is talking to the Winchesters, then why not use that to our advantage.” 

The statement made him curl a bit in shame, it sounded worse than he imagined. 

Emily didn’t pay him any attention though, only looking between other team members to see their response. So he decided to do the same. 

As he expected, nobody seemed pleased with that idea. They were stuck somewhere between anger and dismay about what they had just found out. 

After a moment of silence, Prentiss decided to continue.

“We need a new lead, and we don’t have any options left.” 

“I hate to say this, but…they  _ might  _ have some insight,” Rossi sighed, agreeing reluctantly. 

Spencer looked to Alvez. The man was shaking his head, resigned, but didn’t voice his protest out loud. 

“Okay. Let’s do this then.”

Reid’s heart started beating faster, “now?” he asked in a high voice. 

Calling the Winchesters was one thing, but doing so with his team wasn’t something he was prepared for.

“No. We’ll call Garcia to catch her up to speed first.” Emily looked at the clock hanging on a wall, “we’ll have to hurry, but we need to be discreet too, we don’t want anyone finding out about this.” She glanced at Reid, then sat down to her laptop.

Spencer slid down on his chair, trying to distance himself from the tense atmosphere.

An intrusive thought was bouncing around in his brain, not wanting to leave;

_ Missing the bunker yet? _

  
  


…

  
  


After they'd updated Garcia on everything, it was time to make the call. 

Between the passive-aggressive comments of his team and Garcia’s utter shock about his ‘secret’, he wished to take everything back. 

Why did he ever think calling the brothers was a good idea? 

He contemplated his regrets, while the team was going through the details one last time.

Penelope was set up to try and track the signal, not that anyone held high hopes of it working. 

“Okay”, Prentiss spoke up, focusing the attention on herself, “it’s time, let’s do this.” 

“Are you sure?” 

The question arose once again, but this time it was Spencer asking. 

She looked at him, anger no longer making her frown. Now it was just…dissatisfaction. With the case, their plan, with  _ him. _

“What have we got to lose.” She remarked, emotionlessly.

_ Okay then. _

Spencer took one last look around his team, just to make sure, then pulled out his phone. 

Emily cleared her throat, "on speaker, and stick to what we discussed.”

He gave a quick nod, stopping himself from rolling his eyes. 

A weird mix of embarrassment and annoyance appeared in his gut. 

It was wrong to hide the fact he called the Winchesters, but the behaviour of his team right now and the way they were treating him, were exactly what made him hide it in the first place. 

Only sighing lightly, he dialled the number.

After a few beeps it was picked up. 

“Yeah?” a hoarse voice spoke up, “kid, that you?”

“Uhm, yeah,” he did  _ not  _ want to see his friends’ faces right now.

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t pick up earlier, I was with my team.” He bit his lip.

“So they don’t know that you called me?”

“Uh, no, they don’t.” Spencer glanced around his team.  _ Not at all. _

“Okay,” Dean acknowledged without judgement. “We saw the news about the murders, you got a nasty one on your hands.” 

“Yeah…and, um, what are you thinking?” He asked awkwardly. 

“Well, you said you smelled sulfur, so like I said, probably a demon, maybe multiple.”

“Multiple?” Reid furrowed his brows. 

“Yeah, from what I read, it looks like the kids just left their homes on their own, right?” 

“Yes,” Spenser confirmed, unsure where this was leading.

“Then unless it got them one by one, you’re dealing with a few of those suckers.” 

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Yeah,” Dean sighed heavily, “look, we just finished a case, so if you send me some details I can look them over, maybe I’ll be able to tell you something more.” 

“Uh…sure.”

Prentiss started waving at him with raised eyebrows.

Looking at her, he was glad she had to pretend she wasn’t there.

"Even if…" Dean sighed after a moment, "it’s not like you can deal with it on your own. Would be best if you could just clear out, let us deal with it." He chuckled, knowing that wasn’t an option.

The faces of his teammates made clear what they thought of that too.

“You can just tell me what to do,” he stated, hoping the man would give him some information. 

"You’ll just get yourself killed.” He deadpanned. “No. Sorry, kid, can’t help you do that.”

“Then what? The murders are only escalating.” The man’s statement irritated him, the info was the only reason his team decided to make the call. 

That, and the fact Dean didn’t believe he could handle it. 

"Well, me and Sammy can’t exactly come,” he made a pause, “I’ll make a few calls, see if someone who won’t get noticed is up for a hunt.”

Prentiss shook her head, telling him to decline. 

“That’s…that’s not necessary.”

“No, if people are dying, someone needs to deal with it.”

Emily curled her lips in a line, shaking her head vigorously. 

“No, just, uh…just give me some time, I’ll call you if I need help.”

“I can wait till tomorrow, then I’m making the call. I can’t let more people, more  _ kids _ , get killed.”

Dean sounded genuinely angry, which visibly surprised his teammates. 

Reid couldn’t help but think ‘told you’. 

But he knew the team would not appreciate that remark, so he just focused back on the conversation.

“I’ll text you my email so you can send me the details. ”

“Okay, I will. If you promise not to do anything for now.”

Dean chuckled softly, “yeah, kid,  _ I promise,”  _ he agreed with a bit of mockery audible in his voice.

“So you’ll pick up? When I call you later for advice?”

“If I’m not dead, you got it.” 

With that, the call ended. 

Everyone seemed to let their breath out when the conversation ended.

But the relief didn’t last. 

“So now we have even more killers to worry about,” Emily stated. 

“They’re not coming here,” Reid disputed. 

“Yeah, just sending some buddies over for ‘a hunt’,” Alvez made a humourless joke out of the situation.

“What, are they a part of some community of serial killers that we don’t know about?” Rossi flailed his hand in exasperation.

Spencer and Emily made eye contact before he spoke, “from what they told me, there are many other people who…do what they do,” he confirmed, choosing his words carefully.

The look David gave him was enough of a response. 

“Just what we need right now, more psychos to come here,” Luke groaned. 

“You think they’ll really send someone?” JJ furrowed her brows. 

“He did sound pretty serious.” Rossi tilted his head. 

Silence fell as they contemplated everything. 

Spencer thought making the call would make things better.  _ Stupid hope.  _

He rubbed his forehead in frustration, nothing was going as it was supposed to. 

“Well,” Garcia’s voice sounded through the laptop’s speakers, “I don’t know about that, but that email you wanted to send over…”

“Forget about it,” Prentiss stopped her, “the last thing we need right now is them knowing any more details about the case.”

“What if sending that email could benefit  _ us?” _

They looked between each other and leaned closer to the screen, intrigued by what the tech has come up with. 

  
  
  


…

  
  


“Who was that?” Sam asked, making his way down the bunker’s staircase.

“The FBI kid, he needs help with that case he’s on.” 

“You think there’s actually a demon involved?”

“Well, I don’t think some psycho just spontaneously decided to carve our symbol into half a dozen bodies.” 

Dean ruffled through the bag of food his brother handed him as he approached. 

He bit into his sandwich as soon as he unwrapped it. 

“Yeah,” Sam sighed, sitting down, “but why  _ our symbol _ ? It’s not something a regular demon would leave behind.”

“Maybe it got sent to hell by men of letters and holds a grudge.”

“Maybe…but how would he get out then?" Sam pushed his salad away, suddenly he wasn't all that hungry anymore.

“I don’t know, man. Crowley isn’t answering and it seems like he doesn’t care about demons getting out anymore.” 

“Yeah, I tried calling too. Do you think he’s mad at us or something?” 

“About what?” Dean asked with his mouth full, which made Sam grimace in distaste.

“Maybe chew your food first.”

“What? Oh, do you mean this?” Dean proceeded to stuff his face with even more food, chewing it comically with his mouth open while leaning in his brother’s direction.

Sam pushed Dean away with a disbelieving chuckle, his brother could still act like a child sometimes. 

“Seriously, Crowley hasn’t been answering for weeks, I think he’s mad about something.”

"Well, we don’t have time to be dealing with his issues right now.”

The older Winchester crumpled up the paper as he finished eating and threw it to the side, ignoring his brother’s discontent. 

He looked down to his phone as it buzzed on the table. 

“Get your laptop, looks like the kid sent the files over.”

Sam did as his brother said, pulling his laptop closer to himself. 

As he stretched his arm over to get it, tingling pain in his side made him hiss in pain. 

“That cut still acting up, huh?” Dean jerked his head at the wound his brother just got. 

“A little, I think it’s gonna need stitches after all,” he grumbled, keeping one hand on his side and flipping the laptop open with the other. 

“Let’s take a quick look and I’ll stitch you up after.” 

Sam mumbled a thoughtless ‘yeah’ in response as he was punching something in on the keyboard. 

Dean’s face twitched, he was tired and angry. For the past few months they couldn’t even catch a breath before a new case popped up somewhere.

He took a sip of his drink and let out a heavy sigh. Hunting was a never ending job, and he was growing tired of it. 

“You better see this.” 

  
  


“They opened it,” Garcia informed the team, not paying them much attention, as she was focused on a different screen in her office.

“And they can’t see anything?” Alvez asked without thinking. 

“I can always hack your computer and you can see for yourself.” She gave him a risen eyebrow through the screen, which was enough to make him quiet. 

Emily was standing at the back of the table, where she could see the rest of the team.

Luke stood right by the TV hanging on the wall. Rossi, JJ and Reid were sitting by the table, with seats adjusted to face the screen.

“And…I have the camera. Sound as well.”

And just like that, they saw Sam Winchester. He looked like he was reading something, completely unaware of the BAU spying on him. 

“Garcia, you’re a genius,” Rossi stated, impressed.

“You know it.” She grinned. “I’m trying to get a location but…” 

“You better see this,” Sam spoke up, cutting Garcia off. He looked over the screen, most likely to where his brother was.

When he moved over to make space, they saw a glimpse of what looked like an old library. 

_ Must be the place where they were holding Reid,  _ Emily thought.

Then Dean Winchester appeared in the frame.

Everyone moved a bit closer to look. The man had a long cut stretching from his temple and going by the side of his eyebrow. 

Before anyone could comment, the brothers started talking. 

“That’s nasty.” He sighed, looking somewhat bored. 

_ Probably used to these things. _

She couldn’t help but wonder about the cut on the man’s face though, was it a defensive wound from a victim?

“So what do you want to do?” Sam turned to look at his brother.

They could hear clicking, as Dean looked through the pictures they sent. After a few, he stopped and rubbed his eyes, appearing tired.

“I don’t know, man. We obviously can’t go, but everyone else is busy, or…” He waved his hand in the air.

“…dead.” Sam finished for him, a weary expression on his face.

“Yeah,” Dean appeared to look through the pictures again. 

Emily instinctively looked for signs of excitement about the bloody images, but she couldn’t find any. All she saw was a tired man, the look in his eyes eerily familiar to the one older agents get, after years of watching gore and death.

“I told the kid we would help him with this case,” he told Sam, which made Emily automatically look to Spencer. 

But his face didn’t display any emotions she could read. 

‘Kid’. It bugged her for some reason. 

It was a playful nickname, as Reid couldn’t realistically be referred to as a kid. That expressed a sort of fondness, and it made her skin crawl. 

_ Serial killers don’t express fondness over their victims.  _

Even just for a kidnapping.  _ Even if they never planned to hurt him.  _

It sounded  _ wrong. _

“I know, but they would be on our asses before we could even do anything, ” Sam tried to reason.

“Well, without us there, they’ll get themselves killed.” Dean glanced at his brother.

Prentiss studied their faces carefully. 

It looked like they were genuinely worried. Like they  _ cared. _

“Do you think the kid remembers what we told him at least?” 

Sam looked at the man, his brows rising a bit, “I think he remembers every last word of what we told him.”

They both chuckled, as if recalling a fond memory. 

Emily observed Spencer, who was biting his lip and fidgeting with a pen. 

When she looked back, Sam’s expression turned sour as he looked down. 

His brother’s amusement died down as well, when he noticed Sam wincing. 

“Okay, we need to stitch that up. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.” 

Dean stood up and walked off to somewhere they couldn’t see.

They could see a big slash on the younger Winchester’s abdomen when the man stood up. 

_ That’s gotta hurt…where did he get it from though? _

Emily’s sense of uneasiness grew as she imagined various scenarios.

But this case isn’t about them. Or at least it wasn’t supposed to be…

While the brothers were preoccupied, they had time to discuss. 

“So, that’s the place where they kept you?” Luke turned to Reid with the question, even though they all knew the answer. 

“Uh, yeah. It’s the main hall and library. I spent a lot of time there.” Spencer confirmed, somewhat uncomfortable. 

Emily could see he was still embarrassed about the phone calls. It wasn’t just him either, the whole room was tense and the conversations felt awkward. 

She wasn’t angry anymore though. Looking at Reid, all she could feel was hurt. Hurt by the fact that he didn’t talk to her. Didn’t trust her, or anyone on the team, enough to tell what he was doing. 

“Well, it seems like they really do want to help.” Rossi turned to face her. 

“Yeah, I guess,” she agreed, looking at the man. Her thoughts mirrored Rossi’s questioning look, wondering:  _ Why would they want to help the FBI? _

“But it doesn’t sound like they’re gonna come here.” She glanced at the screen, where only the room was visible, with no Winchesters around. 

They’re smart enough to know they wouldn’t be able to get into the town unnoticed. Much less conduct one of their ‘investigations’, where they liked to impersonate the authorities. 

“What if we invited them?” 

The question snapped her out of her thoughts. 

She looked down to Spencer, who was staring at her in anticipation for a response. 

“Why would we do that?” Rossi was baffled by the proposition.

“Well, we have no leads, no clue what to do next.” He looked between the members of the BAU, trying to justify his idea. “We all saw that they  _ want  _ to help us, but won’t come here just to get arrested.”

“So we’re supposed to invite them here, saying they can work the case, and not worry about us arresting them?” Alvez questioned. 

“No,” Emily spoke up, which made Spencer, along with others, turn to her, “we invite them as consultants. They could help us, and we would have them under constant supervision.”

“It would certainly be interesting to profile them from up close,” Rossi remarked, tilting his head lightly while thinking about it.

“Sure, it could even help us catch them later on,” JJ spoke up, “but we need to consider the risks. And how would we even explain that to the board?” 

“I would take care of that.” Emily exhaled heavily, imagining the conversation. 

“So we’re actually inviting them?”

She looked at Alvez, feeling similar emotions to the ones she could see on his face. 

Was this a good idea? Probably not. 

Did they have a choice? Not really.

“I guess we are.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not very proud of this chapter. I kept trying to justify the decision to bring the brothers in the best I could, but I know it just isn't very realistic to be bringing wanted serial killers in to help out on a case, but then again, neither are many parts of criminal minds in the first place. So I guess it fits somewhat lol.
> 
> I'll try to post the next part faster, I just need to stop getting so hung up about parts not being quite realistic and trying to make them make sense when they just wouldn't, it's fiction after all.
> 
> Gotta say though, I feel a lot more confident in my writing after writing these two crossfics, they're only my first attempts at writing overall, but I feel like I learned a lot from them (lots more to learn still, but it's proving to be quite a fun process).
> 
> Thank you guys for your comments, they literally make me dance/jump around in happiness, smiling like an idiot lol


	5. Chapter 5

  
  


“You want to invite wanted criminals to help us with the case?” 

Staton arched a brow, dumbfounded by the idea. 

“With your approval, yes.” Emily gave an assuring smile, looking the chief in the eyes. 

"Our supervisor already agreed, but we wanted to ask you as well," Luke, who was standing beside her, informed the man. 

The Chief sat back in his chair, thinking for a second, “if you think it will help. I just want to stop this madness.” 

They nodded, from the man’s tone they knew he had no personal connections to the brothers, he’s probably never met them before.

“We’ll need to brief your officers and see if any of them ever came in contact with the brothers, are you aware of any connections?” she asked, as that could complicate the situation even more. 

"Not any that I know of, no. But we had lots of folks transferring in and out, so it's possible."

"Okay, we'll do the briefing in an hour, can you get your officers in the office in that time?" 

"Sure, anything to put an end to all this." He waved his hand over his desk. Just like their table in the conference room, it was covered in files and photos from the recent crime scene. 

His tired eyes scanned the images, the same powerlessness they were feeling clouding his features. 

"We hope to do just that," she assured. 

They soon walked out to the corridor, heading back to the conference room. 

"I hope this won't turn out to be a huge mistake," Luke spoke when they were a good distance away from the chief's office. 

They glanced at each other and Emily nodded along, her mind wandering somewhere else. 

"To be honest, Reid is what I worry about right now," age spoke up, voicing her thoughts. 

"Yeah, I still can't believe he contacted them." 

"I’ve been thinking about that,” Emily stopped, nudging Alvez to do the same. “Don’t you think we’ve been pushing him too much?”

“How so?” 

She glanced at the door a few feet away from them, where the conference room was.

“I think we- _I_ , made him feel cornered.” 

She clutched the file in her hand, feeling uneasy. “I insisted on him talking to me, I wanted to help, but I’m scared that-”

“I’m sure he’ll understand. He knows we're just worried.” 

When she looked up at Alvez, he was smiling lightly in reassurance.

“Yeah, I hope so.” She let her breath out, trying to relax. Times like these made her wish she wasn't in charge, wish that Hotch was still with them. 

“Let’s go, we have a call to make.” Luke raised his eyebrows, continuing to walk.

Emily followed, sneering, “right.”

… 

"Okay, everyone knows what to do?" Emily asked one last time. 

When she made eye contact with Reid, he nodded, assuring he would do as he was told. 

She dialled the number and pushed the phone over to him. 

A few beeps went by without answer. It was getting late by now, but they hoped the brothers would still pick up. Before another night of terror would come upon the town.

It was picked up at last. 

"Kid? What's up? Something happened?" Dean’s voice was raw, unguarded. Like he forgot to put on his deep, rough voice the team always heard when he talked to them. 

"Hey, nothing happened. I just wanted to ask about something,” Reid tried to sound casual, but his throat felt tight and it came out a pitch too high.

He looked to Emily, who gave a nod. 

He cleared his throat and continued, "actually, it's me and my team. _We_ wanted to ask you and Sam about something."

Silence. _Did he hang up?_

"Dean?" 

"Yeah, I'm here. Are they with you?" 

Back with the guarded, serious tone. _Okay then_.

"Yes, they are." 

He nodded to Emily, who leaned over to the phone. 

"It's SSA Emily Prentiss here, we'd like to make a proposition."

"Prentiss, huh? Haven't heard you in a while." 

Spencer noticed Emily's grip tightening over a pen she was holding. Dean's comment, as innocent as it might've been, made her tense up. 

"Anyway. What would be that 'proposition' you're talking about?" 

"We'd like you to help us, _on site,"_ he spoke in Emily’s place, trying to help her out.

"As in come over to you? How’s that even supposed to work?"

He sounded sceptical, but Reid was determined to make this work. 

"It's simple, really. We'll send you a deal to sign, you'll have immunity while you're helping us, then 24 hours to leave before we can come after you." 

"Simple," he grumbled, not convinced. 

"It would also help your and your brother's case. Assisting us now can get you a leaner sentence, once you're caught that is,” Emily added.

He snorted, amused by her words. 

She looked Spencer in the eyes while they waited for an answer. 

He bit his lip in anticipation. 

"Whatever, I just want to get the son of a bitch that's doing this."

"Does that mean we have a deal?" Emily wanted to make sure. 

"I'll talk with Sam and we'll text you our answer. Just send that deal over so we can make sure you're not bluffing." 

"Will do. Just remember we're on a clock here, we'll need that answer fast."

"Yeah, _I know."_

The call ended with Dean's bitter tone, but the team looked satisfied enough. 

Emily gave him a smile, and he made sure to reciprocate the gesture. 

About half an hour later, they received a message: "We have a deal, see you tomorrow."

After waiting in uncertainty, everyone cheered at the news. 

Spencer wanted to share the spirit, but a feeling of an incoming catastrophe clouded his mind. 

  
  
  


….

  
  
  


Dean stared at the screen of his phone: “We have a deal. See you tomorrow.” 

“Happy?” he grunted at Sam, showing him the message he typed out.

Sam gave him a dissatisfied look, but it wasn’t because of the text.

“Don’t act like you don’t want to go.” 

“Not saying I don’t want to. But I’ll bet your ass they’ll try to lock us up as soon as we’re done,” he proclaimed, shoving his phone into his pocket. 

“The deal is clear on the terms, they have to give us 24 hours.” 

“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes.” Dean exhaled, turning around and walking to the door. “Get your beauty sleep while you can, we’re hitting the road in a few hours.” 

  
  


…

  
  


After they briefed the officers, the team headed to their motel to rest for the night. If anyone could even fall asleep, that is.

Luke was driving, with Emily and JJ in the car with him. It was a short ride, but his mind was storming, thinking of all the things that could go wrong tomorrow.

Even the fact they could listen in on the Winchesters, and them seeming genuinely concerned, didn’t help. It just made him question everything more.

Something in his gut kept warning him of incoming trouble. He knew this just couldn’t end well. Whenever he tried to convince himself otherwise, the image of Reid chained to a chair popped up in his head, like a red alarm blaring "PSYCHOPATHS".

He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he remembered. 

Reid’s terrified eyes, as he regained consciousness and realized what was going on. The cold, careless eyes of Dean Winchester when he pressed a knife against his friend’s throat. 

“You okay?” Emily’s voice snapped him back to reality. 

“Hmm?” He voiced, before the question registered. “Oh, yeah, I guess.” 

He took a glance at the passenger seat. Her expression was serious, and he had a feeling her thoughts echoed his. 

“I’m not happy about any of this either.” 

“Yeah,” he muttered under his nose, looking straight ahead. “Do you think Reid is right? That we got it all wrong?” 

He heard a heavy breath being released, “I think we could have listened to Reid more. He may be wrong about them, but we just pushed him away. I pushed him away _._ ” 

It only took a glance to see the regret on Emily’s face. 

“Hey, none of us wanted to believe that Winchesters might be...not all that bad.” The words passed his throat with difficulty. 

But he could see Prentiss was blaming herself. She was already having a hard time with taking over after Hotchner, all of this was just making it worse. 

“You guys don’t actually believe the Winchesters are any good?” JJ spoke up from the backseat.

“Just because they didn’t hurt Reid doesn’t mean they’re great people all of a sudden.” Her brows were furrowed, and she looked angry. 

At least from what Luke saw in the rear mirror. He couldn’t see her face well when it was only lit up by the street lamps they were passing. 

“Of course not. I’m just wondering, maybe we could’ve handled it better,” Prentiss tried to explain, partially turning to the back. 

“It was his decision to call them instead of talking to any of us.”

In a glimpse of street light, he saw JJ turn her gaze away and sit back into the shadows.

He took a breath, putting his eyes back on the road. 

“Let's just rest for now, we’ll figure everything out tomorrow.” 

With no reaction from either of his teammates, he pulled into the driveway of the motel. 

Maybe he could get a little rest. He sure as hell needed it, if he was to face tomorrow.

  
  
  


…

  
  
  


“The deal doesn’t say anything about us giving up our gear, right?” Dean stood over his duffel bag, holding his gun.

It was morning - or still night, some might say - and they were getting ready to leave. Just grabbing a few things from the kitchen before hitting the road.

“You didn’t even bother to _read it_?” Sam straightened up from a cabinet he was searching through, and raised his brows. 

“You said it seemed okay, so?” Dean waved the gun in his hand, anticipating an answer. 

“No, it didn’t. But don’t expect they won’t watch out for it, or ask us to hand it over at first.”

“Well, they can _ask_.” The older brother shoved his gun behind his belt. 

Sam tilted his head, giving him _a look._

“Okay! Jeez.” Dean raised his hands in a defence motion. "Let's get going, you don't wanna upset your new bosses." He turned around on his heel and walked out, leaving his brother making his bitchface he was not there to see. 

  
  


…

  
  


The next day at the office, everyone was tense. Even the officers, who were informed about the situation, seemed nervous. 

Because everyone knew _The Winchester Brothers._

The ruthless killers, delusional psychopaths, America’s most wanted. 

Reid observed all the commotion, not participating in all of it. No more than he had to at least. 

He tapped his pen on the file in front of him. It was Dean’s, from a few years ago.

The man’s cocky pose made the corner of his lips twitch in amusement. 

His fondness for the brothers was something he couldn’t quite explain. To himself, and even more so to his team. Especially when they didn’t want to hear it. 

Only Garcia wasn’t as abrasive about the whole thing. But now that she was the last to find out about his ‘secret’, he wasn’t so sure that would still be the case.

They received a message from the brothers, informing them they’ll be arriving around noon. 

Spencer took a deep breath. It was actually happening.

How will the brothers act? How will his team react? 

In a few hours, it wasn’t a question anymore. 

The brothers walked in, and as much as everyone tried not to, they all stared at them.

Winchesters looked around the station, assessing their surroundings.

Then they looked straight at Reid, and suddenly he felt like he was back at the bunker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO sorry about the long wait! 
> 
> I have some financial issues (among others), had no electricity, and, well...no motivation bc I've been really stressed out lately. 
> 
> Don't worry tho, I won't abandon this fic, I just need to get my shit together...


End file.
